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4.9 Biobgical Resources V Unlikely: The project site and/or immediate area do not support suitable habitat for a particular species. Project site is outside of the species' known range. Low Potential: The project site and/or immediate area only provide limited habitat for a particular species. In addition, the known range for a particular species may be outside of the project area. Medium Potential: The project site and/or immediate area provide suitable habitat for a particular species,and the project may directly or indirectly affect suitable habitat,though no known populations would be affected. High Potential: The project site and/or immediate area provide ideal habitat conditions for a particular species and suitable habitat would be directly affected. Known populations may be affected. San Joaquin Kit Fox San Joaquin kit fox is a permanent resident of and grasslands or open shrubland where suitable friable soils occur to allow for den construction. The species requires dens year-round for both reproduction and for shelter. They are principally carnivores of medium-sized to small mammals, small birds and reptiles, insects, but will also forage on vegetation (USFWS 1998). San Joaquin kit fox will range up to 20 miles at night(Girard 2001 in Jones and Stokes 2005). San Joaquin kit foxes historically occurred in native plant communities in the Central Valley,which have largely ` been converted to other uses. Converted lands used by San Joaquin kit fox include an agricultural matrix of row crops, irrigated pasture, orchards, vineyards,and grazed annual grasslands (USFWS 1998).The species has also been documented using various modified habitats for denning, including on canals and levees, landfills, and on powerline corridors(USFWS 1998). Dens generally include one or more entrances that are approximately 5 to 8 inches in diameter, and may be burrows of other species, including coyote,badger, red fox, or ground squirrel or manmade structures such as culverts, pipes, and canal banks (USFWS 1999b). All except one extant record of San Joaquin kit fox in the San Joaquin County Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan are on the Lone Tree Creek, Midway,and Tracy quads(SJCOG 2000) northwest of the project. This corresponds with records in the CNDDB, the closest of which is of r. one individual on Corral Hollow Creek,about 8 miles northwest of the project, and west of Interstate 580(Figure 2). The CNDDB also includes a record of numerous sightings of San Joaquin kit fox throughout a generalized area of the eastern slope of the Diablo Range spanning �- several counties (CDFG 2005). This record overlaps the project site,but does not contain specific data of records in the project. San Joaquin kit fox tracks were detected on Hospital Creek at the Interstate-5 underpass (Monk and Associates 1995 in the Final Environmental Impact Report for t' the Koster Road Quarry Excavation), about one mile southwest of the project site. The SJMSCP emphasizes the maintenance of a north/south trending movement corridor for kit foxes through _ the southwest portion of San Joaquin County in order to maintain connectivity between populations to the north and south,especially within 3 miles of the Delta Mendota Canal. RMC Pacific Vernalis Quarry Mining and Reclamation Project 4.9-5 ESA/203015 Draft Environmental Impact Report May 2006 r